A complete guide for anyone starting from scratch. No auctioneer license required, no development team, no venue. Just your platform, your buyers, and a countdown clock.
An online timed auction is a bidding sale that runs entirely over the internet, with a fixed closing time set in advance. Unlike a live auction with a human auctioneer, a timed auction is fully automated: you set the start time, end time, and opening bid for each lot — then the software handles every bid, every increment, every outbid notification, and every invoice.
Bidders visit your website, register, browse your lots, and place bids at any hour of the day or night. When the countdown expires, the highest bidder wins automatically. No gavel. No venue hire. No staff on auction day.
This format is used for everything from antiques and collectibles to industrial equipment, luxury goods, property, and surplus stock. If you have items with buyers, a timed auction is the most efficient and scalable way to sell them online under your own brand — not through a marketplace that takes a cut and owns your buyer relationships.
The key advantage over a general marketplace or competitor SaaS tools: this is timed auction software you own outright — the software, the data, and the domain are all yours. Your buyers are your buyers.
No surprises. This is the honest checklist — every item you need before your first auction can go live.
Anything with a market — antiques, industrial equipment, surplus stock, collectibles, property, vehicles. The software handles any category. You supply the inventory.
Your auction site lives at your own URL — yourauctions.com, yourbrand.co.uk, whatever fits your business. From £8/year with any registrar.
If you choose the software license, you need a PHP-capable hosting account — shared hosting from ~£5/month works. Or choose our managed VPS plan and skip this entirely: we handle the server.
PHP Pro Bid integrates with Stripe, PayPal, and others out of the box. Buyers pay through your gateway — money goes directly to your account. We never touch your revenue.
Your first bidders come through marketing — social media, email, SEO, word of mouth, or existing customer lists. PHP Pro Bid gives you buyer registration, verification, and a built-in messaging system to engage them.
Our managed plan needs zero technical skill. For the self-hosted license, basic FTP and cPanel access is enough. One-click install handles the rest. Full documentation included.
From a blank slate to active bids. Each step links to the relevant documentation so you can go as deep as you need.
After ordering, install PHP Pro Bid on your hosting account using the one-click installer. Set your site name, timezone, currency, and language. This takes under 30 minutes. Choose the Managed plan and we handle this for you — your platform arrives pre-configured and ready to customize.
View installation docs →Set your bid increment rules — flat amounts or an increments table that scales with the lot price. Configure proxy bidding so the software automatically bids on a buyer's behalf up to their maximum. Enable bid sniping protection: any bid placed in the final moments automatically extends the auction by a time period you define, ensuring a fair close.
Bid increments & bidding docs →Choose your registration flow: open registration, email activation, or admin approval. Enable buyer verification — an identity confirmation step that builds trust between you and your bidders. All registration data is stored on your server. Configure the password rules, welcome emails, and KYC requirements that fit your market.
User registration & verification docs →Create each auction listing with a title, description, images, opening bid, and reserve price. Set a custom start and end time for each lot, or use a fixed duration. Upload up to multiple images per lot. Save drafts and publish when ready. For large sales, use bulk listing upload to create dozens or hundreds of lots from a spreadsheet in minutes rather than hours.
Listings documentation →Charge listing fees, sale transaction fees, or both — paid by sellers, buyers, or split. Fees can be percentage-based, flat, or tiered by price range. Use the built-in fees calculator so buyers can see the total cost before they bid. Configure buyer's premium if your market expects it. Every fee is set by you and goes directly to you.
Fees configuration docs →PHP Pro Bid integrates with Stripe and PayPal out of the box. Connect your gateway from the admin panel — no code required. When a buyer wins and pays, funds land in your account. The Stripe add-on supports Payment Intents API with automatic card charging, so buyers check out in one step.
Payment gateway docs →Publish your lots and open registration. Buyers start bidding. Your dashboard shows every active lot, bid count, current price, and time remaining in real time. Outbid notifications go out automatically to losing bidders — bringing them back to rebid without any manual effort. When the timer reaches zero, winners are determined and invoices generated automatically.
Bidding documentation →When bidding closes, the platform auto-generates invoices for every winning bidder. Buyers receive an email with a link to pay and arrange shipping. Combine multiple lots into one invoice for buyers who won more than one item — a feature that reduces friction and increases collection rates. Unsold lots can be relisted with one click.
Accounting & invoicing docs →PHP Pro Bid ships with every tool covered below. No extra modules required to run timed auctions.
Any bid placed in the final minutes automatically extends the auction by your defined period. Fair close every time — and more bids in the last stretch.
Docs →Buyers set a maximum bid and the platform places incremental bids on their behalf — automatically, up to their limit. More bids, less buyer effort.
Docs →Set flat increments or use an increments table that scales with the current bid price. Full control over how competitively your lots close.
Docs →Schedule each lot with a precise start time and end time. Run staggered closings across a catalog, or launch everything at once. Your auction, your calendar.
Docs →Every outbid triggers an instant email notification to the losing bidder. They return, they rebid. More final-moment activity, higher closing prices.
Docs →When bidding closes, winner invoices generate automatically. Buyers pay online. Combine multiple won lots into a single invoice with one click — fewer abandoned payments.
Docs →Set a hidden reserve that must be met before the lot sells. Enable Buy Out for bidders who want to skip the auction and buy immediately at your set price.
Docs →Built-in messaging between buyers and sellers. Bid updates, sale confirmations, and Q&A for lots — all on-platform. No external email management needed.
Docs →Buyers bid from their phone with the same speed and reliability as desktop. No separate app required. Your platform works on every modern browser and device.
Features →Require buyers to verify their account before bidding. A built-in reputation and feedback system lets your community self-police — reducing no-shows and non-payment.
Docs →Run your timed auction platform in any language. PHP Pro Bid ships with a full translation system — expand to international buyers without rebuilding anything.
Docs →Allow third-party sellers to list on your platform and charge them listing or transaction fees. Run as the sole seller or build a full marketplace — your choice, switchable any time.
Features →What the other options don't tell you upfront — compared honestly.
| Feature | PHP Pro Bid | Licensed competitor | Embedded bidding tool | Generic SaaS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One-time license (no monthly fee) | ✓ £399 | ✓ Available | ✗ SaaS only | ✗ SaaS only |
| Full source code ownership | ✓ Included* | ~ Partial | ✗ Plugin/API only | ✗ No |
| Self-hosted on your own server | ✓ Standard license | ✓ Available | ✗ Cloud only | ✗ Cloud only |
| Built-in shopping cart (fixed price + auctions) | ✓ Included | ~ Separate module | ✗ Auctions only | ✗ Auctions only |
| Proxy bidding & bid sniping protection | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | ~ Varies |
| Multilanguage support | ✓ Included | ✗ English only | ~ Limited | ✗ Rarely |
| Transparent pricing (no "contact for quote") | ✓ £399 / £63/mo | ✗ Quote required | ✗ Quote required | ~ Varies |
| Zero transaction fees to vendor | ✓ Always | ✓ Yes | ✗ Platform fee applies | ✗ Usually 1–3% |
| Non-technical setup (managed option) | ✓ Managed VPS plan | ~ Setup service available | ~ Partner-dependent | ✓ Usually |
| Add-ons & official theme marketplace | ✓ Canary, Vintage + more | ✗ Custom only | ✗ No | ~ Limited |
✓ = Included · ~ = Partial/add-on required · ✗ = Not available. Information based on publicly available data as of 2025–2026.
*Full PHP source is included; a small number of licensing/security files are encoded with ionCube.
Everything first-time platform owners ask before going live. More in the full documentation.
Ask a question →Everything connects. Follow the links that match where you are in your journey.
The full picture: every auction format, every pricing option, and every reason to own your platform rather than rent it.
£399 one-time license or from £63/month Cloud. See exactly what each includes before you decide.
Every module across auctions, shopping cart, fees, payments, shipping, and users — documented in detail.
Catalog an entire estate as timed lots — bulk upload, staggered closings, and per-buyer invoicing. A classic timed-auction use case.
Create an event in seconds. Add lots one by one or by bulk upload. Auto-generate invoices when the event closes.
The bigger picture: niche selection, buyer acquisition, fee structures, and how to grow from your first sale to a recurring operation.
Need something the standard platform doesn't have? We build custom features, integrations, and designs to specification.
Stripe integration, Canary and Vintage themes, Facebook login, eBay importer, product discounts, and more.
Full technical docs for creating auctions, configuring bidding, managing bid retractions, buy-out, make offer, and more.
You now know every step. The only thing left is choosing your plan, installing the platform, and listing your first lot. Most users are live within a week.